Writing About: Zombies

I'm over at Unicorn Bell with Dear "I'm the Worst Writer Ever!" Writer.

A zombie is a soulless human corpse that can walk, move, and act as if it’s alive. They have an insatiable hunger for fresh flesh.

Zombies are extremely popular in our culture today. Movies, TV shows, books, comics, songs…you name it.

Even though people say zombies are a cliché and are overdone, that’s not stopping people from contributing to this genre. I’ve started to write my own zombie story, but it’ll be a little while before it’s finished. For this WIP, I did a bit of research and found a lot Do’s and Dont’s that zombie fans feel can make or break a zombie story.

Here they are:

- Do consider how the zombies are made (virus, nuclear leak, disease (rats), a curse, voodoo, etc.)

- Do mention the smell. You characters should be able to smell zombies coming, not just hear them. These are dead, rotting bodies we are talking about.

- Do show us how your characters survive, get food, and find shelter.

- Do consider hygiene (soap, toilet paper).

- Do have your characters perform first aid whenever they have an injury. Even a scratch.

- Do consider the sewage system. No electricity and no water means no flushing toilets.

- Do give your characters a water purifying/filtration system. No fresh water supply will cause illnesses.

- Do include children characters. Kids won’t just vanish.

- Do mention pets and animals. Not just rats, maggots, and bugs.

- Do have your characters stock up on ammo.

- Don’t make it so easy for your character to get ammo or guns, though. Are the owners of these gun shops not hunkering down with their abundance of weapons? I would, and I wouldn’t let anyone near them.

- Don’t make your characters instant gun/weapon experts. Everyone needs to practice and learn.

- Don’t give your characters perfect shots every time. In a chaotic moment, this is impossible.

- Don’t have your characters go to heavily populated areas or take shelter in a mall or store that they can’t secure.

- Don’t decompose your zombies so fast. If they just died, their skin won’t peel off and their skulls won’t cave in with a single blow.

- Don’t have rotting zombies that are super strong. How can a zombie so badly decomposing tear down a fence or break down a door?

- Don’t let your characters be noisy and stupid. This will give them away. They should be smart enough to know to be calm and quiet.

- Don’t hide your character’s bites. They’ll put their friends and loved ones in danger.

- Don’t add criminal gangs or evil armies. Both have been done way too much.

QUESTIONS: Can you think of any zombie Do’s and Dont’s? Do you like zombie entertainment? What’s your favorite form of zombie entertainment? 

Mine is The Walking Dead, but I also love the Resident Evil movies.